A dagger through it means urgent.
I
Take a contract
Every Chronicle opens with a job pinned to the board at Ruinwatch Keep: who posted it, the pay, and the minimum rank. No campaign homework.
Tales of the Dustcloaks
One-shots from the guild's own archive.
Original adventures compatible with fifth edition, written as contracts for a guild whose members come and go. Built for tables where the roster changes every week.
How the Chronicles work
A framework for the table that never looks the same twice
The bronze key comes first.
II
Drop in any week
Players are Dustcloaks on shift that night. Whoever shows up answers the contract, so a changing roster never breaks the story.
Write it down, or it didn't happen.
III
Close the ledger
A Guild Debrief weighs the ending against the Dustcloak code and awards renown, so regulars climb the ranks across one-shots.
Newest in the Archive · Contract No. 112
Gnolls… Still?
The Boneweaver of Hima
5E Compatible (2014 rules)
Months ago, the Dustcloaks cleared a gnoll den in the hills above the village of Hima. Now something howls there every night. Fresh Initiates march under Explorer Krythar Frostmane to the town of Respite and on to Hima, then down into the Gnollbone Hollow, where an outcast gnoll necromancer is raising the dead pack as his own. A first contract for brand-new characters, built to take them to 2nd level.
- Contract Rank
- Initiate
- Levels
- 1–2
- Players
- 4–5
- Play Time
- 3–4 hours
Read the contract$3.99
New to the guild? Start here
The Guild Primer is free
The Code, the ranks and their clasps, the halls of Ruinwatch Keep, the traders who pass through, a map of Vildenlund, and a game master's guide to running Chronicles for a table that changes every week.
Get the free PrimerPDF · 13 pages
Inside every Chronicle
Pages torn from an explorer's journal
- ◆A Guild Contract: the hook, the client, and the pay, ready to read aloud
- ◆A surveyed map: every room on a 10-foot grid, with a numbered key
- ◆Field-journal art: plates, creature studies, and sketches you can hand to players
- ◆Complete stat blocks: built from the SRD and balanced for the contract's rank
- ◆A Guild Debrief: an ending judged by the Dustcloak code, plus renown
The Guild ladder
Every contract has a rank
Pick a Chronicle by the clasp your party wears. Regular players earn renown toward promotion; drop-ins just grab a cloak.
The Dustcloak code1
Initiate
Levels 1–2
Bronze clasp
2
Explorer
Levels 3–4
Silver clasp
3
Wayfinder
Levels 5–8
Gold clasp
4
Loremaster
Guild sage
Platinum clasp
5
Master Explorer
Council of Masters
A clasp all their own
Questions at the gate
Frequently asked questions
What is Dungeon Master Chronicles?
Dungeon Master Chronicles publishes original one-shot adventures for fifth edition tabletop roleplaying games. Every adventure is a contract for the Dustcloaks, a guild of explorers based at Ruinwatch Keep in the kingdom of Vildenlund. It is a brand of Ember Digital LLC.
Are these adventures compatible with fifth edition (5E)?
Yes. Every adventure is written for fifth edition rules and uses material from the System Reference Document 5.1 under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Each product page lists its edition.
How do these one-shots work for a group whose players change every week?
Every character is a member of the same guild, so any mix of players makes sense together. Each adventure starts with a Guild Contract read at the keep and ends with a Guild Debrief, so a session never leaves a story hanging for players who might not return. Regular players earn renown and climb the guild's ranks across sessions.
What is the free Guild Primer?
The Guild Primer is a free 13-page PDF that introduces the Dustcloaks: their Code, ranks and clasps, Ruinwatch Keep, notable members, traveling merchants, a map of Vildenlund, and a game master's guide to running one-shots for a changing table, including how to pay off characters' backstories.
What levels and play time are the adventures for?
Each contract names a minimum guild rank that maps to a level range: Initiate (levels 1–2), Explorer (levels 3–4), or Wayfinder (levels 5–8). Most adventures run in a single session of three to four hours for four or five players.
How much do the adventures cost, and what format are they?
Adventures are digital PDFs in US Letter size. Gnolls… Still? is $3.99. Trouble in Falkhallow is $3.99. Desert Tomb is $3.99. The Guild Primer is free.
Is the artwork AI-generated?
Yes. The illustrations are created with AI image tools in a consistent ink-and-watercolor field-journal style, and every product's credits page says so. The adventures, maps, and layout are original work.
“We take what's lost, not what's guarded, and we leave the dead their dignity.”
Eadric Vorn, Steward of Ruinwatch Keep